It is frequently desirable, for health and exercise reasons, to suspend a person in a head-downward but substantially vertical position.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,380,447 to Martin teaches an ankle device for supporting an individual in an inverted position.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,593,708 to Steele shows an apparatus for suspending a human being in an upside down, generally bent over, position.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,874,375 shows an exercise apparatus for suspending a person in an upside down position using a trapeze bar to assist the user in getting into position. A horizontal knee bar supports the person in an upside down position, and a second bar is used to trap the feet and to hold the person in the upside down position.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,081,085 to De Girolamo shows a back posture and stretch board for supporting a person in a substantially upside down position.
The shown apparatus, however, differs in structure from the apparatus contemplated by this invention.